Hello Slowhand,
When Peter (Redpoint) and I were together, we acquired two DP-6's - with a total of 3 arm wands between us. I used a 9" Precision Red wand exclusively, as I was using Benz cartridges at the time.
Both Peter and I had quite a bit of trouble getting predictable anti-skate behavior with the arm. I've heard this from other individuals whose opinion I respect.
It appeared to me as if the coil spring assembly was hanging up.
I disassembled and cleaned the assembly. This did not improve matters. I always felt as if I was trying to keep a British sports car running when I had this arm in my system.
Now, Peter is a tortured soul when it comes to tonearms. He decided to pick up yet another arm wand for his Moerch - a 12" one.
Peter told me that this transformed the tonearm over a range of cartridges. We don't know what to make of this, because from an effective mass perspective, there was no change.
I have been around enough different tonearms to not buy into the argument of the inherent superiority of longer tonearms. Tracing distortion is only one consideration. Arm tube resonance (and the difficulty in controlling it in a longer wand while maintaining effective mass), bearing loading, etc. also need to be considered.
Perhaps these attributes work in favor of 12" as far as the Moerch is concerned. I can't say ...
I consider the DP-6 (with a 9" wand) to have fairly nice performance at its price point, but when I picked up a used Micro Seiki MA-505 Mk III at a fraction of the Moerch's used selling price, I saw no reason to keep the Moerch. I had learned all that I cared to about the tonearm.
Note that these comments apply only to the DP-6 (in its 9" configuration), and not to the UP-4 tonearm. I think that the UP-4 is an absolutely great buy at it's price point. The DP-6 faces stronger competition, however.
I suppose the main consideration is whether you are purchasing the arm new or used. For a kilobuck or so, the DP-6 is a fairly nice tonearm, although I prefer my Micro MA-505 Mk III to it. Certainly, hell will freeze over before you find a Schröder Model-2 on the used market, so you are looking at a more significant outlay for this arm.
Cheers,
Thom
When Peter (Redpoint) and I were together, we acquired two DP-6's - with a total of 3 arm wands between us. I used a 9" Precision Red wand exclusively, as I was using Benz cartridges at the time.
Both Peter and I had quite a bit of trouble getting predictable anti-skate behavior with the arm. I've heard this from other individuals whose opinion I respect.
It appeared to me as if the coil spring assembly was hanging up.
I disassembled and cleaned the assembly. This did not improve matters. I always felt as if I was trying to keep a British sports car running when I had this arm in my system.
Now, Peter is a tortured soul when it comes to tonearms. He decided to pick up yet another arm wand for his Moerch - a 12" one.
Peter told me that this transformed the tonearm over a range of cartridges. We don't know what to make of this, because from an effective mass perspective, there was no change.
I have been around enough different tonearms to not buy into the argument of the inherent superiority of longer tonearms. Tracing distortion is only one consideration. Arm tube resonance (and the difficulty in controlling it in a longer wand while maintaining effective mass), bearing loading, etc. also need to be considered.
Perhaps these attributes work in favor of 12" as far as the Moerch is concerned. I can't say ...
I consider the DP-6 (with a 9" wand) to have fairly nice performance at its price point, but when I picked up a used Micro Seiki MA-505 Mk III at a fraction of the Moerch's used selling price, I saw no reason to keep the Moerch. I had learned all that I cared to about the tonearm.
Note that these comments apply only to the DP-6 (in its 9" configuration), and not to the UP-4 tonearm. I think that the UP-4 is an absolutely great buy at it's price point. The DP-6 faces stronger competition, however.
I suppose the main consideration is whether you are purchasing the arm new or used. For a kilobuck or so, the DP-6 is a fairly nice tonearm, although I prefer my Micro MA-505 Mk III to it. Certainly, hell will freeze over before you find a Schröder Model-2 on the used market, so you are looking at a more significant outlay for this arm.
Cheers,
Thom